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Welcome to the Girl Scout Leadership Journeys!

What is a Leadership Journey?

A leadership journey is the exciting new way of working with girls in a series of themed activities focused on building specific leadership skills. Journeys generally are designed in a six to eight session framework, and are fully customizable by girls and volunteers. In partnership with girls, volunteers can add outings, celebrations, badges, and explorations that suit the journey’s theme and the girls’ interests. Journeys can be stretched over a Girl Scout year or done over the course of a few weeks or months. While journeys offer plenty of choices for girls, the companion adult guides will provide the “roadmap” volunteers want.

A key part of the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, journeys are a coordinated series of activities grouped around a theme. Each journey is tied to Girl Scouts' 15 national outcomes for girls. These outcomes are integral to the three leadership keys, Discover, Connect, and Take Action.

Journey workshops are available to introduce Journey programs to prepare volunteers to offer the best Journey experience possible to their girls! Check the Calendar for Journey Workshops happening in your area.

Fun, friendship, challenges, active leadership.That's a Girl Scout Journey.That's making the world a better place.

The Journey Themes:

(Click to learn more about each one!)

This series engages girls in a critical thinking process related to identifying and researching issues they care about.

This series invites girls of every age on an adventure to explore the wonders of Earth as they enjoy the natural world.

This series invites girls to tell their story through creative expression, building self-esteem in girls while exploring today's media.

Girl Scouts is fun with a purpose. The goal of all Girl Scouting is to develop leadership skills in girls, and to meet our mission: to build girls of courage, confidence, and character who make the world a better place. This experience, of what we do, how we do it, and why – is called the Girl Scout Leadership Experience (GSLE), and it is unique to Girl Scouting.

GSLE: What There are many ways for Girl Scouts to participate, and there are many options for what they will do – earn badges, travel, go on trips, earn awards, give service to their communities, complete Journeys, etc. But no matter what activities Girl Scouts do, their Girl Scout activities use the Three Keys:

Discover – Girls understand themselves and their values and use their knowledge and skills to explore the world.Connect – Girls care about, inspire, and team with others locally and globally.Take Action – Girls act to make the world a better place.

GSLE: How We know that how girls complete activities is just as important as what activities they complete. That’s why Girl Scout program uses three processes that give girls the opportunity to practice and develop leadership.

Girl-led – Girls in every level take an active role in deciding what, where, when, why, and how they’ll do activities. This process, as part of an adult-girl partnership, supports girls’ empowerment and decision-making abilities.Learn By Doing – Hands-on learning engages girls in an ongoing cycle of action and reflection, as they master skills and learn new concepts. This learning is more memorable and meaningful.Cooperative Learning – Girls share knowledge, skills, and experiences in an atmosphere of respect and cooperation. Girls work together to meet common goals, while engaging individual girls’ talents and creativing a sense of belonging.

GSLE: Why The entire Girl Scout program, regardless of the exact topic or pathway, is designed to meet 15 short-term outcomes. Girls will:

Discover

Discover a strong sense of self

Develop positive values

Gain practical life skills

Seek challenges in the world

Develop critical thinking

Connect

Develop healthy relationships

Promote cooperation and team building

Resolve conflicts

Advance diversity in a multicultural world

Feel connected to their communities, locally and globally

Take Action

Identify community needs

Become resourceful problem solvers

Advocate for themselves and others

Educate and inspire others to act

Feel empowered to make a difference in the world

To find out more about the Girl Scout Leadership Experience, you can watch a video created by Girl Scouts of the USA at: www.girlscouts.org/gsle

Community Service is one of the core values of Girl Scouting. Volunteers and Girl Scouts of all ages are encouraged to participate in service projects that will have a real impact on their communities. Girls can choose projects that reflect their own interests, large or small, and work as individuals or as a group. It is especially important for all adult volunteers to coach girls on identifying local needs they care about and guide girls in reflecting on what they’re learning. To apply the Discover, Connect, and Take Action keys, volunteers ensure that girls develop leadership values and skills while reaching out to others. By continuing our long tradition of helping others, we can fulfill the Girl Scout mission in a visible way in our communities.

Resources:

Download a basic hour log for girls to track hours

Go to the Forms page to download the Troop Finance Report, which includes a community service hour log for Troops

Project Undercover Participate in Girl Scouts of Greater South Texas’s annual service project, the collection of new underwear, socks, and diapers for children in the care of the Texas Department of Family Protective Services. This service project takes place each year in the month of October. Visit the patch programs webpage to see the patch for this project.